Divorce trial of Douglas and Victoria Reynholm
The divorce trial of Douglas and Victoria Reynholm occurred in 2010 after Douglas had filed for a divorce against his wife a few days previously. Victoria, however, demanded that Douglas pay £212 million pounds to compensate their time spent together. Douglas, whose company Reynholm Industries was slowly crumbling due to the global economic crisis, was unable to pay Victoria £212 million and brought the matter to court. Overview Background Whilst giving an interview to a journalist, Douglas discussed how his wife, Victoria, had mysteriously disappeared one day after washing the car, and how he wished that she could reappear. Coincidentally, a few seconds later, Victoria appeared at the doorway. Victoria took Douglas to Heston Blumenthal's restaurant, the Flappy Duck, where they discussed their relationship. Although Douglas was not keen on restarting their relationship, Victoria, using only her foot, undid Douglas's fly and began giving him sexual pleasure under the table. Two weeks later, however, Douglas no longer wished to continue his relationship with Victoria and paid one of his employees, Jen Barber, to break the news to her. Jen invited Victoria to the Flappy Duck, however, she was unable to tell her and got up to leave. Victoria, however, correctly guessed that Jen was sent there to tell her that Douglas wanted a divorce, and took matters into her own hands. The following day, she demanded that Douglas pay £212 million. Douglas, whose company Reynholm Industries was slowly crumbling due to the global economic crisis, was unable to pay Victoria £212 million and brought the matter to court, defending himself. Day 1 On the first day of the trial, the judge questioned Victoria about her time with Douglas. Victoria explained that she had to brush Douglas's teeth as he wouldn't do it himself. She went on to explain how Douglas was irresponsible with money and demonstrated this by showing the court a sex tape based on Star Trek made by Douglas which cost him a lot of money to produce. Douglas then cross-examined Victoria and rested his case on the fact that Victoria was a born a man. This, however, turned out to be false, and Douglas was, in fact, getting this confused with his former girlfriend April Shepherd. Douglas, after conferring with his Relationship Manager, Jen Barber, requested that he be allocated more time to prepare another defence. Day 2 The following day, Roy Trenneman, a member of the IT Department of Reynholm Industries, was questioned by the judge. Roy told the court that he was happy with his job and that Douglas treated them very well, and described the whole trial as a "damp squid". Jen, however, embarrassed her co-worker Roy in front of the court because of his mispronunciation of the phrase "damp squib", after Roy had mocked her for mispronouncing the word "pedestal". Maurice Moss, another member of the IT Department of Reynholm Industries, was then brought to the stand. After being sued by his mother as a child, Moss was extremely nervous during the trial and continuosly repositioned himself and drank water. He provided little information on the case, however. That evening, whilst Jen and Douglas were discussing their plans for the following day, a mysterious letter was posted underneath the door of the office. After reading the letter, Jen told Douglas that they now had evidence which could win them the trial. Day 3 On the third and last day of the trial, a former Reynholm Industries employee, Richmond Avenal, was questioned by Douglas. Richmond explained that he was unhappy during his time at Reynholm Industries due to his gothic lifestyle. When he was diagnosed with scurvy in 2008, however, he decided that he no longer wished to be a goth and founded the company From Goth2Boss, which helped others to stop leading their gothic lifestyles. Richmond then went on to explain that Victoria Reynholm was, in fact, Melanie Crawford, a former From Goth2Boss pupil of his. However, on closer expectation, Richmond realised that he had mistaken Victoria for someone else and dropped his case. Douglas, after his defence had failed, pretended to have a heart attack, however, the judge and jury remained unconvinced. Jen then stepped forward and gave a speech on how much Reynholm Industries meant to its employees, and how lost they would be if it ever dissolved. Victoria decided to drop the cost to £70 million, which Douglas agreed to pay. Douglas then celebrated by taking Jen, Moss, and Roy to the Flappy Duck. Behind the scenes *The entire courtroom sequence in the third episode, Something Happened, evolved after Graham Linehan realised that he had already a courtroom set made for this episode. Appearances *''Reynholm vs Reynholm'' Category:Events